SKELETON OF THE LIOX. 201 



thick capsular support for the back part of the acoustic 

 bullae. The pterygoid processes are imperforate. A well- 

 marked groove extends on each side of the bony palate 

 from the posterior to the anterior palatine foramina. 

 The premaxillaries are comparatively short, and one-half 

 of the lateral border of the nasals directly articulates with 

 the maxillaries. The antorbital foramina are largely 

 indicative of the size of the sensitive nerve supplying 

 the well-developed whiskers. Within the cranium we 

 find that ossification has extended into the membrane 

 dividing the cerebrum from the cerebellum. This bony 

 tentorium extends above the petrosal to the ridge over- 

 hanging the Gasserian fossa; the petrosal is short, its 

 apex is neither notched nor perforated; the cerebellar 

 pit is very shallow. The sella-turcica is deep, and well 

 defined by both the anterior and posterior clinoids. The 

 rhiuencephalic fossa is relatively larger in the lion than 

 in most carnivora, and is defined by a well-marked angle 

 of the inner table of the skull from the prosencephalic 

 compartment. The olfactory chamber extends back- 

 wards both above and below the rhinencephalic fossa ; 

 the upper part of the chamber is divided into two sinuses 

 on each side. The superior turbinals extend into the 

 anterior sinus, and below into the presphenoidal sinus. 

 All the bones of the skeleton are remarkable for their 

 whiteness and compact structure. 



The vertebral formula of the lion (Fig. 43) is — 7 cervi- 

 cal, 13 dorsal, 7 lumbar, 3 sacral, and 23 caudal. The 

 last cervical vertebra has the transverse processes imper- 

 forate, being formed only by diapophj^ses. The eleventh 

 dorsal is that toward which the spines of the other trunk- 

 vertebras converge, and indicates the centre of motion of 

 the trunk in this hounding quadruped. Eight pairs of 



